Hawaii couple aid in rebuilding villages devastated by disasters

Hawaii lawmaker John Mizuno and his wife, May Besario Mizuno, are visiting the Philippines to assist in rebuilding efforts after natural disasters last autumn.

Hawaii lawmaker John Mizuno and his wife, May Besario Mizuno, are visiting the Philippines to assist in rebuilding efforts after natural disasters last autumn.

May Besario Mizuno is the president of the Congress of Visayan Organizations. That group of Hawaii organizations is contributing funds with the Philippines charity Gawad Kalinga to build 20 homes in two villages.

One will be on the island of Bohol, the site of a magnitude-7.2 earthquake in October. The other will be on Leyte, an island slammed by typhoon Haiyan in November.

John Mizuno, the vice speaker of the Hawaii House of Representatives, said in a news release that the project is personal for him and his wife. They have relatives who survived the typhoon and are trying to rebuild their home.

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manakukewrote:

Turning ‘lemons into lemonade. Like many war devastated areas, the opportunity to build from the ground up is a re-building opportunity.

on May 25,2014 | 06:20AM

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Kananisouzawrote:

May Besario Mizuno the president of the Congress of Visayan Organizations (COVO) and Vice Speaker Mizuno have gone to the Philippines to review the possible sites for two villages. The Congress of Visayan Organizations and it's affiliate organizations, the Filipino Community and the entire state of Hawaii helped to donate funds to help the victims rebuild their homes. Truly a great job by COVO, its members, and all the individuals and groups to work on a great cause to build two villages for the victims of the earthquake in Bohol and super typhoon Haiyan in Leyte.
Some people may provide hateful comments, but as we can see these are the do-nothing.com people, never doing any good, just hating any goodwill mission to improve the lives of the needy and rebuild homes.
Great job COVO and Hawaii!

on June 3,2014 | 05:59PM

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dontbelieveinmythswrote:

Let's make sure the "Congress of Visayan Organizations" is not getting an advantage through the legislature or there may be a conflict. But then again, even if there were a conflict, nothing but a tap on the wrist. Mizuno is a grandstander. Lot of photo ops and ideas to spend other peoples' money.

on May 25,2014 | 07:32AM

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Kananisouzawrote:

May Besario Mizuno the president of the Congress of Visayan Organizations (COVO) and Vice Speaker Mizuno have gone to the Philippines to review the possible sites for two villages. The Congress of Visayan Organizations and it's affiliate organizations, the Filipino Community and the entire state of Hawaii helped to donate funds to help the victims rebuild their homes. Truly a great job by COVO, its members, and all the individuals and groups to work on a great cause to build two villages for the victims of the earthquake in Bohol and super typhoon Haiyan in Leyte. Some people may provide hateful comments, but as we can see these are the do-nothing.com people, never doing any good, just hating any goodwill mission to improve the lives of the needy and rebuild homes. Great job COVO and Hawaii!

on June 3,2014 | 06:21PM

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kahuku01wrote:

Did Mizuno assist in rebuilding efforts in Japan after the natural disaster? What a political move by Mizuno's wife (President, Congress of Visayan Organization) to provide assistance in the PI, knowing that many Filipinos reside in the 28th district. Getting that attention for votes from the filipino community for her husband. Somehow, there's always ways of getting votes like Cachola has done for years.

on May 25,2014 | 07:43AM

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8082062424wrote:

I agree. He got to do some thing.though. last election every house had a Mizuno sign up on there fence. this time around not the case. lot of folks are still upset over his stand on the SSm bill. and it shows. and it not only him . Abercrombie and Schatz use to have there signs up on ever house not the case now. every 10 homes are so you may see one of there signs .

on May 25,2014 | 08:43AM

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Nala007wrote:

Why must people attack John and May for their work? Despite the fact that this probably will sell well with Filipino voters in the districts, it is still good work that John and May are doing and a reflection of their values. There are worse things that politicians could do for votes and PR. At least John is always doing things that help the underprivileged in our society. And May's family was directly impacted as pointed out in the article.

on May 25,2014 | 07:56AM

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kahuku01wrote:

I'm sure other families were impacted by the disaster and I'm sure they were handled personally and quietly without any media coverage. The fact of the matter is, there are many underprivileged people in the state of Hawaii that require assistance and help by a politician or organization and it should be focused at home, not abroad.

on May 25,2014 | 09:11AM

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Kananisouzawrote:

as you may know, Vice Speaker Mizuno has worked to donate his own personal money to help send homeless from the mainland back to their home to reunite with their family. Mizuno was interviewed by CNN as his bill was the first passed in the nation to create the "Return-to-Home" program to save the state taxpayers millions of dollars. Moreover, Mizuno joined family members of the late Iris Rodrigues Kaikana who was murdered and worked with the family to find the person who murdered Iris. Mizuno donate $500 of his personal money for a reward to secure information leading to the arrest of the murderer. After the news conference, the murder suspect was arrested. Today that person is in prison for the murder of Iris

on June 3,2014 | 06:06PM

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DAGR81wrote:

If this trip is personal to Mizimo...who is paying for this trip?

on May 25,2014 | 08:30AM

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ready2gowrote:

Thousands of Hawaii residents have donated money to support the Red Cross and other relief agencies in the Philippines.

on May 25,2014 | 10:00AM

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WizardOfMoawrote:

There will always be naysayers for every good intentions. Let's not judge those who means well.

on May 25,2014 | 11:45AM

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falsewrote:

Very good match of the photo and the article - John & wife campaigning in one, and in the other...well, he is, um, according to his press release, he is on a personal visit. Press release? Personal visit?

on May 25,2014 | 03:14PM

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Kananisouzawrote:

as you may know, Vice Speaker Mizuno has worked to donate his own personal money to help send homeless from the mainland back to their home to reunite with their family. Mizuno was interviewed by CNN as his bill was the first passed in the nation to create the "Return-to-Home" program to save the state taxpayers millions of dollars. Moreover, Mizuno joined family members of the late Iris Rodrigues Kaikana who was murdered and worked with the family to find the person who murdered Iris. Mizuno donate $500 of his personal money for a reward to secure information leading to the arrest of the murderer. After the news conference, the murder suspect was arrested. Today that person is in prison for the murder of Iris

on June 3,2014 | 06:07PM

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falsewrote:

And before someone chimes in and says to me what's da matter, let's just say I'm a bit grumpy today with all this wet weather. I'm also a bit skeptical, but that's a chronic condition.

on May 25,2014 | 03:15PM

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falsewrote:

By the way, Star Advertiser editor, this isn't really news, you know. Hundreds of people have gone out to Philippines without an article written up about them. And only one of them is running for office this year. I just hope you give Mizuno's opposition equal time...

on May 25,2014 | 03:18PM

Name:

Comment:

Kananisouzawrote:

May Besario Mizuno the president of the Congress of Visayan Organizations (COVO) and Vice Speaker Mizuno have gone to the Philippines to review the possible sites for two villages. The Congress of Visayan Organizations and it's affiliate organizations, the Filipino Community and the entire state of Hawaii helped to donate funds to help the victims rebuild their homes. Truly a great job by COVO, its members, and all the individuals and groups to work on a great cause to build two villages for the victims of the earthquake in Bohol and super typhoon Haiyan in Leyte.
Some people may provide hateful comments, but as we can see these are the do-nothing.com people, never doing any good, just hating any goodwill mission to improve the lives of the needy and rebuild homes.
Great job COVO and Hawaii!

on June 3,2014 | 05:59PM

Name:

Comment:

Kananisouzawrote:

as you may know, Vice Speaker Mizuno has worked to donate his own personal money to help send homeless from the mainland back to their home to reunite with their family. Mizuno was interviewed by CNN as his bill was the first passed in the nation to create the "Return-to-Home" program to save the state taxpayers millions of dollars.
Moreover, Mizuno joined family members of the late Iris Rodrigues Kaikana who was murdered and worked with the family to find the person who murdered Iris. Mizuno donate $500 of his personal money for a reward to secure information leading to the arrest of the murderer. After the news conference, the murder suspect was arrested. Today that person is in prison for the murder of Iris.